I finally got enough time to go out and shoot my Pietta 1860. Had no powder measure, no capper, not much anything.

Despite the lack of a measure, I had found a 45 auto casing a few weeks ago on my last trip to the mountains and did a bit of research and found out that it holds about 28 grains of black powder...close enough for me. So I packed it all back up into the car and went to the mountains this morning. Right before I got to the spot, I forgot to get a tub of crisco from the store so I ended up at a small mountain market and all they had was margarine....lol....you know what, it worked just fine and made the gun smell like fresh popcorn between cylinders.

I've discovered that shooting black powder isn't like anything I've done before. Normally, you can hear a report and say, 'that's a 45' or 'that's a 9mm' just based on the report...these things sound like cannons.

Afterwards, I broke the gun to it's component parts and cleaned it all up...should I break the gun down to it's last screw to clean, or is just breaking it down to it's base parts groups enough?

Make sure you clean it well..The butter probably contains salt which is not good on the gun..A drop of olive oil works also. There are many easy lube recipes out there that are easy and simple to make, you will learn.. You have been assimulated, resistance is futile..

Like Gary, I don't do a complete detailed breakdown each time I shoot and then clean my guns. However, I think that after using margarine for grease it wouldn't be a bad idea. Organic materials may work well as lubricants, etc., but some can contain residual salts that aren't good, and frankly after a while most turn rancid and smell pretty bad. Besides, cleaning my guns is the second most fun thing I do.

Congrats. Sounds like you're on your way. BTW, a 45 acp case is MY standard measure for black powder. Works great.
I'm also one who field strips and thoroughly cleans the barrel and cylinder but DON'T do a detailed strip of the gun. You might splurge on a little bore butter instead of the super market kind It will do the job for you and can be used to protect your gun after cleaning.

__________________
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